1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to emulation of mouse functionality and, more specifically, to emulation of mouse functionality for a multi-touch input device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multi-touch input devices and associated interfaces offer a new modality of interaction for users. Unfortunately, though, multi-touch input raises a number of interesting yet difficult challenges when it comes to the design of user interfaces. Multi-touch input using a multi-touch display device generally assumes direct input, where the end-user interacts directly with graphical imagery located under the points of contact with the display surface, e.g., a display screen that may be integrated with the multi-touch input device. Due to this direct interaction, the multi-touch input devices suffer from the same drawbacks as traditional single point touch screens. For example, direct interaction may cause user fatigue, reduced precision, and occlusions from the end-user's hand.
However, even if the fatigue, precision, occlusion problems are solved, almost all research to date supporting direct touch interaction has only considered emulating a “left click” event, i.e., activation and deactivation of the left mouse button. In order for an end-user to interact with many graphical interfaces in multi-touch input environments, emulation of the right and middle buttons is also desirable and in some cases essential.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is a technique for emulation of left, right, and center mouse button functionality for a multi-touch input device.